Let learners have enough text books to achieve maximum

What you need to know:

  • Whichever way one looks at it, moving from a scarcity of books to “a flood of books” in schools even if that were true, is a good problem.

  • Studies have shown that there is a direct core-relation between availability of learning materials and learning outcomes.

  • Kenya has shown it can be done; on time, on budget (in fact below budget) and in high quality.

The Daily Nation on February 14 carried an interesting headline, “Teachers’ fury over book supply racket”. To set the record straight, for years, since the advent of Free Primary Education in 2003, the government has been pumping billions of shillings to schools for purchase of books. However, schools never had enough books and hence never achieved the 1:1 student book ratio.

RACKET

Government took drastic action to resolve this problem by introducing central procurement of books in a very transparent and open system. In the past, schools were selecting books among the six titles approved per subject per level. This means, for example, in English Form One, six titles from six different publishers are approved and are in the government catalogue of approved books famously called “The Orange Book”. In the new system, the government asked the six approved publishers to compete on price and the cheapest would be picked as the core text and the selected publisher would supply directly to schools. This was an open and transparent process and, in fact, the day prices were out on tender opening, all publishers’ representatives attended. By the time the publishers left the hall where the tender prices were being read out, everyone knew who had won and who had not. Therefore, the issue of a “book supply racket” as insinuated by the article is not true. The process of procurement, right from advertising to tendering and subsequent tender opening was perfectly above board and free of any influence from any corner.

However, whichever way one looks at it, moving from a scarcity of books to “a flood of books” in schools even if that were true, is a good problem. Studies have shown that there is a direct core-relation between availability of learning materials and learning outcomes. Nowhere in the world has any government achieved student to book ratio of 1:1. In a space of one year.

Kenya has shown it can be done; on time, on budget (in fact below budget) and in high quality.

'FLOOD'

Let us not forget Form One KCSE exams tests all the work a student has done through Forms One - Four. It doesn’t help a student in Form Four in a public school to have only Form Four books.

Let us be honest. In private schools, parents buy, without any prodding up to four textbooks for their individual children. Because these books are privately procured, these children have access to all the books from Form One to Form Four. For students in public schools to compete with those in private and well-resourced schools, they must have books for all levels. Who in their right mind, would oppose such a noble idea? Don’t we want our children in public schools to have the same access to materials as others elsewhere? It’s now a flood of books? Who are these teachers who don’t want books for their students?

It’s incumbent upon schools to at least prepare a place to keep the books. Some are so ingenious they convert a classroom into a temporary library as they plan to build libraries. But to receive free books from government and then complain that they have no place to keep is like to say you have money and no bank account; so don’t give me the money!

Njagi is Chairman, Kenya Publishers Association.